Apparatus for filling beer cans or the like

ABSTRACT

The filling devices in an apparatus which fills beer cans orbit about a vertical axis and have upright housings supporting cylindrical centering members which carry deformable gaskets for the mouths of cans. Such cans are supported by a conveyor which orbits with the filling devices and is movable up and down or is held against vertical movement during rotation with the filling devices. The introduction of liquid into the cans takes place subsequent to introduction of a compressed gas, and such gas can be used to bias the gaskets against the mouths of cans during filling. When the filling of a can is completed, the pressure in its interior is increased to facilitate separation from the respective gasket. That supply of beer which remains in a channel of the housing on closing of the beer-admitting valve can be expelled in response to expansion of gas in a chamber which receives such gas by way of the container and is sealed from the container by beer in the channel. The expansion of gas in the chamber takes place in response to opening of a valve which reduces the pressure of gas above the body of liquid in the container.

United States Patent 1191 Rademacher et al.

1451 May 20, 1975 APPARATUS FOR FILLING BEER CANS OR THE LIKE [73]Assignee: Holstein & Kappert Maschinenfabrik Phiinix GmbH, Dortmund,Germany 22 Filed: Jan. 8, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 431,725

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 175,673, Aug.27, 1971, Pat. No.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 29, 1970 Germany 2042990[52] U.S. Cl. l4l/59; 141/198; 141/286; 141/311 [51] Int. Cl B65b 31/00[58] Field of Search 277/27, 205, 206, 206.1;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,336,071 4/1920 DannelleyI. 141/46 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,312,406 11/1962 France141/199 Primary Examiner-Houston S1. Bell, Jr. Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Michael S. Striker [57] ABSTRACT The filling devices in anapparatus which fills beer cans orbit about a vertical axis and haveupright housings supporting cylindrical centering members which carrydeformable gaskets for the mouths of cans. Such cans are supported by aconveyor which orbits with the filling devices and is movable up anddown or is held against vertical movement during rotation with thefilling devices. The introduction of liquid into the cans takes placesubsequent to introduction of a compressed gas, and such gas can be usedto bias the gaskets against the mouths of cans during filling. When thefilling of a can is completed, the pressure in its interior is increasedto facilitate separation from the respective gasket. That supply of beerwhich remains in a channel of the housing on closing of thebeeradmitting valve can be expelled in response to expansion of gas in achamber which receives such gas by way of the container and is sealedfrom the container by beer in the channel. The expansion of gas in thechamber takes place in response to opening of a valve which reduces thepressure of gas above the body of liquid in the container.

4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure APPARATUS FOR FILLING BEER CANS OR THE LIKECROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a division of ourcopending application Ser. 5

No. 175,673, filed Aug. 27, 1971, now Pat. No. 3,807,463 granted Apr.30, 1974.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to apparatusfor filling cans or analogous containers with beer, juice, milk and- /orother types of carbonated or non-carbonated liquids. More particularly,the invention relates to improvements in container filling apparatus ofthe type wherein a supply of liquid to be introduced into metail5 liccans or like containers is preferably stored in an annular vessel belowa cushion of compressed gas and wherein the vessel rotates during thefilling of containers.

Presently known apparatus of the just outlined character are normallyprovided with an entire battery of equidistant filling devices whichextend downwardly from the annular vessel and are provided with meansfor sealing the mouths of containers (such as beer cans and hereinafterreferred to cans for short) during introduction of metered quantities ofa liquid, such as beer. It is customary to place empty cans onto aconveyor which is provided with means for lifting the cans into sealingengagement with ring-shaped gaskets of the respective filling devices.Since the cans orbit about the axis of rotation of the vessel duringintroduction of such metered quantities of a liquid, the upper surfacesof the bodies of liquid in the cans are strongly inclined under theaction of centrifugal force which acts on decanted liquid, and suchinclination presents serious problems during removal of filled cans fromthe filling apparatus as well as if it is desired to fill each of aseries of cans with identical quantities of a liquid. The problems whicharise in connection with the inclination of the upper surface of thebody ofliquid is a filled can are especially serious during downwardmovement of the can in order to disengage its mouth from the gasket ofthe respective filling device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide anovel and improved apparatus for filling metallic cans or analogouscontainers with beer, juice or other carbonated or uncarbonatedbeverages in such a way that a relatively weak container is not likelyto undergo deformation in the course of the filling operation and thateach of a series of successive containers receives the same quantity ofliquid.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel and improved meansfor preventing contamination of a filling apparatus for beer cans or thelike by droplets of liquid, and for reducing the waste in liquid to aminimum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel 6 A furtherobject of the invention is to provide novel and improved means fordisengaging the mouths of liquid-filled containers from gaskets inapparatus for the filling of beer cans or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus forintroduction of a liquid into cans or other types of containers withnovel and improved filling devices which reduce the likelihood ofcontamination of the apparatus with liquid, which can fill each of aseries of containers with the same quantity of liquid, and which can berapidly disengaged from filled containers without resorting tomechanical deflectors and without deformation of containers and/orspillage of their contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide the improved fillingdevices with novel means for expelling such quantities of a liquid whichremain in the filling devices upon completed filling of containers to apredetermined level and which would go to waste in the absence ofexpulsion into partially filled containers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a filling device forbeer cans or like containers with novel means for sealing the mouths ofcontainers without the danger of deformation of containers and in such away that the sealing means can be rapidly and conveniently separatedfrom the mouth of a filled container.

An ancillary object of the invention is to provide the filling deviceswith novel gasand liquid-admitting valve means as well as with novelmeans for reducing the pressure in filled or partially filled containersand for expelling remnants of decanted liquid from a filling device intothe registering partially filled container.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus wherein thecontainers to be filled need not be moved up and down preparatory toand/or subsequent to filling with metered quantities of a liquid.

Another object of the invention is to provide a filling apparatus forcans or analogous containers whose energy requirements are less thanthose of presently known apparatus.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whichcan be utilized for satisfactory filling of different types ofcontainers and which can be readily adjusted to introduce into eachcontainer a desired quantity of liquid.

A further object of the inventionis to provide an apparatus which can beused for proper filling of relatively weak containers or for the fillingof containers which are capable of withstanding substantial stresses forthe purpose of sealing their interior from the surrounding atmosphere.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of anapparatus for of filling cans or analogous containers with liquids. Inaccordance with the invention, the apparatus comprises a filling devicehaving a housing, an annular sealing member which is movable up and downalong the housing and carries at its lower end a gasket movable intosealing engagement with the mouth of a container therebelow, a channelprovided in the housing and terminating in a preferably conical surfaceat the underside of the housing, an upright holder which is supported byand extends downwardly from the housing, and a float which is movablelengthwise of the holder and has an external surface engaging with thesurface of the housing to seal the channel from the interior of thecontainer when the channel has admitted into the container suchquantities of liquid that 3 the float rises by buoyancy into sealingengagement with the housing. 1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The single FIGURE is a fragmentaryaxial sectional view of a filling device which embodies the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The filling device of which isshown in the drawing comprises a housing 501 for a valve member 516mounted in the enlarged lower end portion 524 of a verticallyreciprocable tubular carrier 518. A seat of the housing 501 is shown at515. A channel 514 which is provided in housing 501 and is normallysealed from two compartments 519 and 519a by the valve member 516 flaresconically upwardly and outwardly and serves to admit a stream of beerinto a can 504 supported by a conveyor 511. The lower end of the channel514 terminates in a conically outwardly and downwardly flaring conicalsurface 501h at the underside of the housing 501.

A conduit or pipe 520 is secured to and is coaxial the housing 501. Thelower end portion of the pipe 520 is provided with a circumferentialgroove for a split ring 550 serving to retain a substantially conicalvertically movable float 551. Thus, the pipe 520 constitutes a holderfor the float 551. When the beer can 504 on the conveyor 511 is empty orwhen the space below the housing 501 does not accommodate a can, thefloat 551 rests on the split ring 550 by gravity. The upper portion ofthe float 551 is bounded by a surface 552 whose conicity corresponds tothat of the surface 50lh. Thus, when the float 551 is lifted, it sealsthe lower end of the channel 514. The conveyor 511 constitutes a liftingdevice which can move the can 504 up and down, and the housing 501 issurrounded by a vertically movable sealing and centering member 506which carries an annular gasket 510 for the mouth of the can 504 on theconveyor 511. A conical surface 509 of the sealing member 506 serves tocenter the can 504 so as to move its mouth into requisite registry withthe gasket 510. The operation of the filling device is as follows If theconveyor 511 does not support a can 504 below the housing 501 or when anempty beer can 504 on the conveyor 511 is merely filled with air, thefloat 551 dwells in the illustrated lower end position and rests on thering 550. If a can 504 is thereupon placed onto the conveyor 511 and thesealing member 506 is lowered by a shifter (not shown) to move thegasket 510 into sealing engagement with the mouth of the can on theconveyor 511, the thus enegaged engaged is ready to be filled with beerwhich is decanted from a vessel, not shown, in the same way asdescribedin connection with FIGS. 1-2 or 3-5 of our Pat. No. 3,807,463 to whichreference may be had if necessary. Thus, the valve member (not shown) ina valve body 527 is moved axially to connect the interior of the can 504with a cushion of compressed gas above the supply of liquid in a vesselso that the pressure in the can equals that in the vessel. The valvemember 516 is thereupon moved upwardly to admit beer into the channel514 and thence into the can 504 by way of the conical clearance betweenthe surfaces 501h and 552. Such conical gap corresponds to the lower endportion 14a of the channel 14 shown in FIG. 1 of our Pat. No. 3,807,463to insure laminar inflow of beer along the internal surface of the can504. The upper surface of beer which accumulates in the can 504 risesand ultimately reaches the float 551. The buoyancy of the float 551causes it to move upwardly along the conduit or pipe 520 and to seal thelower end of the channel 514 when the can 504 contains a predeterminedquantity of beer. The valve member 516 is then moved into engagementwith the seat 515 to seal the channel 514 from the compartments 519 and519a. The upper end portion of the filled can 504 is thereupon connectedwith the atmosphere, for example, by way of the conduit or pipe 520, andthe can 504 is removed from the conveyor 511 or is lowered with theconveyor prior to transfer into a sealing machine. The float 551descends with the can 504 (while the latter is being lowered by theconveyor 511) whereby the surface 552 moves away from sealing engagementwith the surface 501h and the beer which fills the channel 514 is freeto descend into the can 504 before the latter is moved away fromregistry with the filling device. The latter is then ready for the nextfilling operation which can be started as soon as the conveyor 511receives and lifts an empty can 504 to a position in which the mouth ofsuch can may be properly sealed in response to downward movement of thesealing and centering member 506.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting featureswhich fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic andspecific aspects of our contribution to the art and, therefore, suchadaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within themeaning and range of equivalence of the claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. In an apparatus for filling cans or analogous containers with aliquid, a filling device comprising an upright housing; an annularsealing member mounted for up-and-down movement along said housing andhaving in the region of its lower end annular gasket means movable intosealing engagement with the mouth of a container therebelow, saidhousing having a surface at the underside thereof and liquid-admittingchannel means having a discharge end in said surface; an upright holdersupported by and extending downwardly from said housing; and a floatmounted for lengthwise movement along said holder and having an externalsurface which engages said surface of said housing to seal said channelmeans from the interior of a sealingly engaged can when said channelmeans has admitted such quantities of liquid that the float rises bybuoyancy and moves said external surface into engagement with thesurface of said housing.

2. A filling device as defined in claim 1, wherein said surfaces are ofconical shape.

3. A filling device as defined in claim 1, wherein said holder is hollowand is arranged to convey a gas into and from the interior of acontainer which is engaged by said gasket means.

4. A filling device as defined in claim 1, wherein said external surfaceof said float is arranged to direct the liquid issuing from said channelmeans against the internal surface of the container which is engaged bysaid

1. In an apparatus for filling cans or analogous containers with aliquid, a filling device comprising an upright housing; an annularsealing member mounted for up-and-down movement along said housing andhaving in the region of its lower end annular gasket means movable intosealing engagement with the mouth of a container therebelow, saidhousing having a surface at the underside thereof and liquid-admittingchannel means having a discharge end in said surface; an upright holdersupported by and extending downwardly from said housing; and a floatmounted for lengthwise movement along said holder and having an externalsurface which engages said surface of said housing to seal said channelmeans from the interior of a sealingly engaged can when said channelmeans has admitted such quantities of liquid that the float rises bybuoyancy and moves said external surface into engagement with thesurface of said housing.
 2. A filling device as defined in claim 1,wherein said surfaces are of conical shape.
 3. A filling device asdefined in claim 1, wherein said holder is hollow and is arranged toconvey a gas into and from the interior of a container which is engagedby said gasket means.
 4. A filling device as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid external surface of said float is arranged to direct the liquidissuing from said channel means against the internal surface of thecontainer which is engaged by said gasket means.